Bethany’s Bread - AKA: cake bread // Celiac Friendly // Gluten-Free

Nearly everything at our house gets named...

Cars and trucks most notably.

Jars of natural yeast.

And as you'll notice here on the blog: recipes.

Mostly that's just because it's how each different recipe is identified.  

For example: RED CHILI 

There's Dave's Camping Chili (which is exactly what I say when asked what's for dinner and that's what's been made...), and there's BBQ Chicken Chili. I have no idea what Dave named his chili!  But it's the name my family and I use to talk about, communicate about, the recipe.  

The main intention of this blog is to pass along recipes with MY edits, MY ideas, MY techniques to my four kiddos.  The titles of the posts are what we literally call them at home, and therefore their needed name here on the blog.

Huge shout-out and THANK  YOU to Bethany for sharing her favorite celiac friendly bread!!!  She came through on a "what's your favorite and tastiest celiac-friendly bread" ask when I was desperate to have something to make at home for Bret Annalese  - (I was sick and tired of bread that cost 10$ a loaf to buy!!). 

Officially named after you: Bethany’s Bread. 

NOTES:  original recipe from "Barefeet in the kitchen" - BFK

AND: her recipe says you can use a hand mixer... I respectfully disagree from personal experience with this recipe.  A hand mixer does not beat enough air into the dough and my very sturdy KitchenAid hand mixer nearly died in the process of trying it that way. YIKES.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...


COMBINE just the dry ingredients into your mixing stand bowl:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 and 1/4 cups oat flour
(Bob's Red Mill - a certified Gluten-Free Oat Flour is my favorite!)
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called starch)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 and 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 and 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum


Gather and prep, but keep separate from dry ingredients until cued in the instructions:

3/4 cup warm milk


1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 OR 1/3 cup honey


3 large eggs (added one at a time)


Optional: ( but not really... it's so good!) sprinkle of certified gluten-free oats for the top of the bread



TIP TO MAKE MILK: make "whole milk" by mixing equal parts water and heavy whipping cream of the needed amount. (I don't use milk very often so I buy heavy whipping cream because it will last for a few months without spoiling.)

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Instructions:

Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer.

Melt the butter in a small sauce or frying pan.

Turn off the heat and add the honey.

Whisk or stir it together and set aside.

Using a stand mixer and the paddle, gradually beat the warm milk into the dry ingredients. 

The mixture will be crumbly at this stage, but once the butter and honey is added, it’ll come together. 

Add the melted butter and honey to the mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly blended.

Add the eggs, ONE at a time. 

Beat the mixture till each egg is combined before adding the next one. 

Once you’ve added all the eggs, beat the mixture at high speed for 3 minutes. 

WHY:  This adds air to the thick batter, which helps take the place of the missing gluten as far as structure is concerned.

At the end of 3 minutes the batter will look like a thick buttercream icing.  (Another reason Gavin calls this "cake bread")

Leave the batter right in the mixing bowl and cover the bowl with a light cloth or plastic wrap.

Let the batter rise for 75-90 minutes. 

This batter will not double in size, but it will puff up. 

Scrape it into a lightly greased average-ish size loaf pan.

Wet a large soup spoon and use the back of it to smooth out the dough; you'll have to run the spoon under water a few times so that it does not become too sticky. 

NOTE: The smoother your loaf is before you put it into the oven, the smoother it’ll be once it’s baked.

Lightly sprinkle the top of the loaf with oats and press gently into the loaf. 

Loosely cover the pan with your plastic wrap from the mixing stand bowl and let the dough rise till it barely crowns over the rim of the pan - 60 to 90 minutes (I am usually waiting the full 90 minutes on that second rise).

Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. 

Remove it from the oven and let rest 10-15 minutes before you remove it from the loaf pan and place onto a cooling rack. 

Slice when completely cool.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...


Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

SMASHED! Potatoes

 

Boiled - SMASHED! - Baked

recipe for 2 baking trays - 1/2 the recipe if you want less...

(BUT you don't want to 1/2 the recipe - you want to have the SMASHED! Potatoes leftovers with scrambled eggs and Bitchin' Sauce. YUP.)

... ... ... ... ...

4-5 pounds small yellow and red potatoes

4 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons rosemary, FRESH, finely chopped

3 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 and 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper

OPTIONAL:    parmesan cheese

... ... ... ... ... 

Fill a large cooking pot with water; get it going in prep to be at a boil when your potatoes are scrubbed up.

Pre-heat oven to 425.

Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.

Prep your potatoes by scrubbing with an old kitchen rag or vegetable scrubber, remove any dark or unwanted spots.

Boil in your pot for 15 minutes (20 if they're bigger) - you want just barely fork tender.

Throughly drain in a colander, leave in the colander and rinse out / cool down your cooking pot.

Put your potatoes back in the pot.

Add olive oil and spices.

Evenly spread out on the 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

SMASH! each of the potatoes flat at about 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick using the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

OPTIONAL:  Flip all the potatoes 1/2 way through.

(but really, you can be lazy about it and not...)

OPTIONAL:  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese when out of the oven

... ... ... ... ... ... 

Leftovers are paired beautifully with:

the basics:  SCRAMBLED EGGS

... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

This recipe is modified from the original shared with me by Emma Lee, my sister-in-law, at an AZ yoga-hike retreat. At the same retreat I was introduced to this sauce... life changing!  (The retreat and sauce.)  :0)  love and gratitude for all the things I LOVE that you bring into my life sweet Emma!! 

Kenny’s Punkin Bread - Baking With Natural Yeast

1  1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt 

3  teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 

5  cups unbleached flour 

(Keep your flour nearby… you may need a bit more - however much it takes to not be sticky!) 

Optional: 3/4  cup sugar (Auntie Jo’s edit)

1/3 - 1/2 cup natural yeast starter

1  1/4 cup water

1  1/2 cups pumpkin puree

Mix all ingredients together.

Add flour 1/4 cup at a time until dough is not sticky. 

Cover and let rise for 20-24 hours. 

To avoid adding flour right before baking: shape dough with gluten-free flour on the outside or use water and parchment paper or olive oil and parchment paper.

Once prepped for baking: use oven safe twine to divide it into 6 sections and score to your heart’s desire. 

Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes. 

With the pumpkin puree its going to bake a little bit longer than usual… 

Cut twine to remove and discard. 

Let your baked punkin loaf rest on a baking rack before cutting and serving. 

Serving IDEAS:

Whipped butter with honey and cinnamon

Nutella 

Butter 

2025 White House Porch

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

SAMOAS POWER SNACK - A Wanna-Be Girl Scout Cookie

OH MY.
So tasty!
And I have completely convinced myself that I am eating a girl scout cookie (but I'm NOT...)

This recipe, or more accurately: a version of this recipe, has been circling my Pinterest feed for a few years.  I've done this one enough times now I know what I like and what is not optional. 

So if you're like me and would buy a box of the Samoa cookies (or 2) for you to eat by yourself... I present this delightful substitute! ENJOY!

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

1 and 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes - TOASTED

(the large kind if you can find them!)

2 cups (about 20) Medjool dates - PITTED

1/4 cup semi-dark chocolate chips OR dark chocolate pieces

2 Tablespoons almond butter

1/4 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt

1/4 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

Toasted Coconut:

Bake at 400 on a small cookie tray with parchment paper for 5-6 minutes.  At around 3 minutes: pull the baking tray out and toss the coconut for it to all evenly toast up.  (BE WATCHFUL! It goes from "toasty" to "burnt" really fast.)  Set aside.

Make The "Dough":

Pit all the dates.

Layer in a food processor or a DRY or WET Vitamix blender:

toasted coconut - 3/4 of it ONLY

pitted dates

almond butter

chocolate - 1/2 of it ONLY

vanilla

salt

Process until the mixture turns into a "dough" ball.

PULL IT ALL TOGETHER:

(you'll get a bit messy...)

Work the remaining chocolate into the dough.

Pinch off small amounts - about the size of a walnut - or use small cookie scoop and roll into 16 balls.

Roll and squish the dough balls in the remaining toasted coconut.

Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate.

Edible right away for sure!

However... best chilled overnight or 1/2 a day.

Store in the fridge for as long as they last... 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Better Than HEB Homemade Tortillas

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Do you have HEB in Houston?"

ME:

"Yup!"

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Have you ever had their butter tortillas???!!!"

ME:

"I have!  A long time ago when I could still eat gluten... They're so GOOD! (I miss them.)"

Friend who recently moved to Dallas from Oregon:

"Sometimes I get home and I realize I've eaten ALL the tortillas..."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

3  cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2  teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup bacon grease, cold  

(OR 1/2 cup butter

OR   1/2 cup lard

OR   1/2 cup shortening 

and in that order of preference)

1 cup hot (very hot) water

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. 

Cut in the bacon grease (or other fat) with a fork or pastry blender until the big chunks of bacon grease (or other fat) are broken up into a fine crumble and incorporated into the flour mixture. 

Add the hot water and stir until combined. 

Work the dough into a ball.

Keep the dough in your mixing bowl and knead the dough about 2 minutes; adding more a 1/4 cup more flour at a time if needed to take away the stickiness. 

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 15-20 minutes. 

Pinch the dough off into pieces slightly larger than a golf ball. 

Work the dough into balls and then press down lightly to form a round roughly the size of your palm.

With a rolling pin or large drinking cup, roll each round out into a circle about a 1/4 inch thick. 

Repeat with the remaining rounds. 

Place the tortillas onto a large HOT cast iron skillet. 

Cook just until light brown circles appear. 

The longer these cook, the crispier they become so adjust you cook time and temp as needed - I like mine slightly floppy especially if I plan to use them for a quesadilla and plan to cook them up again.

  
Wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm oven until you have finished cooking all of the tortillas and are ready to serve. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

If there are any leftovers refrigerate and reheat on your cast iron skillet.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link FOR:       Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Jo's Hummus Dip

If you’re wanting to take this to a potluck or munch on at home with a big group: drizzle olive oil and lightly sprinkle with paprika.  

If this is for your own munching, keep in an airtight container in your fridge for up to two weeks. If it starts to dry out, add a little water and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Funny thing... I had a reminder of WHY this blog started in the first place today.

The reminder was that this recipe was NOT in my digital file.  A file I had worked on and compiled from the beginning of my married life 22 years ago...  

And not only that, a file that I only have NOW because I asked a handful of friends if they had an emailed copy of my recipe collection of favorites.  This particular recipe was not in that email copy because it wasn't the most up-to-date version of it.  What I have now on my computer is missing about 1/4 of the recipes printed and in my: Jo's Recipe Book of Favorites.  

How did this blog start from an emailed copy of that digital file?

Let me fill you in:  A few years into life here in Texas, our computer crashed (albeit with the helping hand of the Handsome Bret Sr. using a keyboard command meant ONLY for MicroSoft Windows).  ALL files were lost, ALL music, ALL photos and ALL videos were gone, and gone forever.  

I decided if I had to re-type my recipes, I might as well start a blog to do it and therefore be able to have my recipes with me where ever I go.

NO advertising on my blog though... I don't like it.  It's so distracting (and quite honestly annoying) to what you're trying to read or while looking through recipe photos.  It's not worth the 5$ it might make monthly.  

For ALL y'all (and me included) -  You're welcome.  :0) 

3 cans (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup AND 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup * lemon juice
    (* keep out 1 Tablespoon until ready and 

    taste hummus before adding  

    ...and add in only if needed)

4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
3/4 teaspoon paprika


In a blender OR food processor - combine all ingredients at once.

Blend on LOW speed until smooth.

Stop the blender OR food processor and push ingredients down towards the blade as needed to keep the ingredients moving through the blade.

If the mixture is too dry and/or mixture is getting stuck when moving through the blade:  ADD 1-2 more Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil.

Taste. 

Add little garlic, salt, pepper and/or lemon juice if needed.

CHILL.

Serve with fresh veggies and pitas OR store in a covered container in the fridge and use when wanted as a dip or sandwich spread.

Makes right around 3 cups of hummus.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Click Link For:    Baking with Natural Yeast - Pitas

Click Link FOR:    Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS  

Blog Post Dedicated To:

Payton Olivia Davis

(who did not believe me when I told her
I used to make my OWN hummus
all the time and never bought
it from the store... )

Baking With Natural Yeast - BRET'S DINNER ROLLS

"Bret's Dinner Rolls" - as in the lovely Bret Annalese, not the Handsome Bret Sr.

Did y'all know I have TWO Bret Davis' in my life?  

Ways that they differ:
- years apart
- BOY Bret is my husband, GIRL Bret is my fourth child and second daughter
- they both like being called Bret. However, I call GIRL Bret by the name I "won" which is Bret Annalese...

- one likes to read non-stop for days on end and then re-read whatever novel series was just devoured.  While the other Bret would rather leave the books on the shelf unless they have to do with timber-framing a house, BBQ or gardening.

- one likes to talk for and be listened to for long, long, long conversations... The other would like for you to get to the point rather quickly.  

Ways that they are similar:

- they are both taller than me...  (NOT hard to do)

- they both order the "Daily Warrior" at Smoothie King

- their chin   :0)  

- their sarcasm

- their made-up "DAD JOKES"

- their food snobbery and desire for treats

- their fire making skills

- they don't clean up after themselves (IE:  shoes are always left out... everywhere)

- they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my dog Jane Austen

MANY times we just say that they're "THE Bret's" - I  LOVE  IT!

It can be confusing to people who meet us as a family for the first time and fun for all of us at home when I'm mad and yelling at one of them and they don't know which one it is until I include a "Daddy Bret" or "Bret Annalese" with my angry commentary.

   

If you take another look at their similar list you'll see that they both are food snobs.  Which can actually come in very handy  for  ME  -  they often come up with a good idea about the food that is made in this house.  

As it happens to be the case with this idea/recipe - Bret Annalese requested that we have actual dinner rolls with our Thanksgiving dinner this year instead of our usual loaf of Natural Yeast Bread all sliced up.  Turns out, it was a great idea and a totally different result than our usual bread loaf (even though it is using the EXACT  SAME  RECIPE!).  

What brings about the difference y'all ask? 

- The rolls are shaped using grapeseed oil and then left to rise for 30 minutes before baking.  The rolls turned out to be incredibly extra-fluffy and delightful!

------------------------------------------------------------

TO MAKE:

You'll need make up a Natural Yeast Dough recipe the day before you want to bake your dinner rolls.  

Click the LINK  HERE:  Baking With Natural Yeast -  Basic Bread Loaf 

Once your dough is ready around the 20-24 hour mark - gather up your items needed for the shaping and baking:

a circle or a 9X9 square baking dish/pan

grapeseed oil

small dish or plate for extra grapeseed oil needed for shaping

your prepped-the-day-before and now READY dough 

------------------------------------------------------------

Pour a few Tablespoons of grapeseed oil into your small dish or plate.

Grease your baking dish thoroughly with grapeseed oil using your hands (they need to be adequately oiled in order to handle your sticky dough...)

Pinch off a handful dough and then pinch into a roll - my girls informed me it looks like a Chinese dumpling.  And indeed it does.

Place in your greased baking dish with the pinched side facing down.

Repeat trying to get a similar size for each roll until the dough is gone.

Let rise uncovered for 30-45 minutes. 

NOTE:  if your house is cold it will take longer!  

Keep in mind you want to see the dough rise an inch or more.

Bake in your oven at 400 degrees for 28-30 minutes.

Let cool 15-20 minutes and serve warm.

Pour a few Tablespoons of grapeseed oil 

into your small dish or plate.

Grease your baking dish thoroughly with 

grapeseed oil using your hands 

(they need to be adequately oiled in order 

to handle your sticky dough...)

Pinch off a handful dough and then pinch into a roll 

- my girls informed me it looks like a Chinese dumpling.  

And indeed it does.

Place in your greased baking dish with the
pinched side facing down.

Repeat trying to get a similar size
for each roll until the dough is gone.

Let rise uncovered for 30-45 minutes 

- if your house is cold it will take longer!

Keep in mind you want to see the
dough rise an inch or more.

Bake in your oven at 400 degrees for 28-30 minutes.

Let cool 15-20 minutes and serve warm.

I love doing these rolls in my cast iron! 
If you have a size 8 or 10 - GIVE IT A TRY! 

Click Link FOR:    Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS